Hood of the Place Beyond
by London Bai
Summary: Isrea discovers a world apart from her own, only to meet a creature who lived in the wood and a couple who dwell in a castle. Who will she trust what with the danger upon those unbeknowest of it?


**Disclaimer: Tale does not belong to me.  
With that said, enjoy.  
Note: I wrote this for high school way back when and I got to thinking: I based some ideas of this story from Little Red Riding Hood, so I suppose this could be considered a fanfiction, though I'm still not very sure.**

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_I don't understand. _She sloppily writes._ After I come home will all 'A's' on my final__report card, I still got stuck babysitting my little brother. I was so sure that I'd be given at least one day of rest, but no. While mom and step-father leave and party for the weekend, I, a simple fifteen year old, must babysit my half-brother._

"Isrea! We're leaving now." Her step-father calls from the drawing-room.

The girl slams her pen down upon her desk. "Fine! Leave already. It's not like I have a life, too."

"Honey," her mom begins, standing on the other side of the closed-door. "You do have a life."

Isreaglares at the door. "Apparently not! Just go away."

"Honey..."

"No! Just go. Have fun." Her mother sighs and walks away. Soon, the front door opens and closes clearly through the small home.

"I won't be here when you get back!" She yells, bursting into tears. "They always go somewhere. Why couldn't they play with me like my dad did? Why couldn't dad have survived the accident?" After a while, the tears stop, but she feels worse than before. Dragging her feet along the ground, she creeps to the crib where her sleeping brother lay.

"They love you the most, you know. I am forgotten and only remembered when there is slave work that needs doing." With a soft sigh, she places a kiss upon his forehead and covers him before walking away to her room. She wasn't in there for long when a bright light flashes outside her window.

Curious, Isrea pulls on her snow boots and heavy coat and bounds to the back door where the light came from. She opens the door to find the outside unfamiliar. The tree with the tire swing isn't where it belongs and her half-made igloo is gone. Instead, a dark forest sparkling with frost and untouched snow meets the girl's eyes. She steps into the new place and looks at the door. Its freestanding frame stand out against the new world around her. She steps back into her home, tempted to just close the door and go to sleep, but her thoughts wander back to her sprite with her mom. Determined, she steps back into the strange world, smiling and laughing gaily, not once looking back at the open door.

Here, no one could tell her what to do as she builds many snow creatures and people with the surplus of snow in the bright full moon light. After playing so freely, she lays upon the snow trying to catch her breath and fight off the bite of the cold.

"This might help, Dearing." A low voice rumbles through the night.

Surprised, she sits up and spots a dark shape silhouetted against the moonlight. In his hand is a redcloth billowing about his form. She quietly stands and crunches in the snow until she could see that the figure is a wolf-like man. His towering build holds a dark, yet thin layer of fur. His human face, though, shows only kindness so sweet, Isreachances a word with him.

"What might help what?"

"This cloak. Those mortal coverings won't do well against the cold in this place."

"What is this place? Where am I?"

"This is just a Place Beyond. No one truly knows where it is. Some say a different dimension. Others, a far of planet." His huffing creates a cloud of breath in the crisp air. "Here, Dearing. Your lips are turning blue." He kneels, placing the red cloak on her shoulders. Suddenly, the cold no longer exists in her body.

"Thank you... um..." Isreafeels rude for not asking his name.

He lightly chuckles. "Just call me Wolf. I have no real name. Come, you seem tired. My home is only a few steps away. You can rest there for the night."

"Oh, I don't think-"

"I won't bite, Dearing. I'm the kindest creatures you'll meet in this forest." He offers a clawed hand to her.

Biting her lip, she accepts the proffered hand and pulls her new cloak tighter against her, her red hood bringing warmth to her chilled face. He quietly leads her through the forest, the moon light could only dream of reaching beyond the thick canopy of the trees. A warm light comes into view, revealing a window etched on the side of a large hill and a door standing dark against the white snow. Wolf gently pushes the door open and guides Isreainside his den. On one side of the one-room home is a study with a plethora of books piled and stacked all along the curved walls of the home. Many of the books lay open as if someone was studying, each one with strange markings both printed and written. On the other side is a fireplace with dying embers and a straw bed.

"You must pardon me. I have yet to have a guest until now. I tend to leave my books about."

"It's fine. Where will you sleep?" Isreaasks, realizing that there is only one bed.

"I don't sleep at this time." Wolf adds wood to the embers and creates a pleasant fire. "You may sleep whilst I protect you. Evil lurks about all the time. Forever searching for victims. Forever making the Place Beyond dangerous to all. Sleep now, Dearing."

Isreanods and slips her boots and coat off, but leaves the cloak on to use as a blanket. She watches Wolf give life to the fire and pad over to his study and read his books, making more marks in them. She listens to him mutter and question himself over the soft crackle of the burning wood. She begins to yawn, tasting the earthy air of the home and the sweet wood on her tongue as she snuggled within her warm cocoon.

In her dream, the room where she fell asleep in continued its quiet life until something pounds on the door causing the dream to shift into a nightmare of yelling, roaring, and growling sounds. Finally, the din stops, but Isrea couldn't seem to keep still as if she's on a boat until it stops and her dream ends, leaving her to a nothingness for the rest of her sleep.

She wakes, but doesn't move, glad that she is still within her cloak. She grins into the cloth until a sound startles her. Ira sits up seeing that the warm cozy den was gone, replaced with a harsh whitewashed room fit for someone with an icy demeanor. Standing by the double doors is a couple dressed in pastel colored royal garb. Both of them has long starlight hair and icy blue eyes that compliment their healthy opaque pale skin.

"Hello, Sweeting." They say together. She remains silent, wondering what happened with Wolf. "We hope that you had a fair rest. We were able to save you from that horrible monster we found you with. Creatures of the forest cannot be trusted." The woman comes up to the bed and sits down near Isrea.

"Since we don't know where you came from, would you like to stay with us? We could become acquaintances and possibly friends. Although, I'm sure my husband would like to have you as our daughter. We had a child, but she passed away fairly recently. We're both heartbroken about it, but you look very similar to her. We wouldn't mind anything you choose, Sweeting." Before she could speak, Isrea'sstomach growls. "Oh! When did you last eat?"

Isreawas about to answer when the man begins talking. "It shouldn't matter when, my love. What we do know is that she's hungry and she must befed." He looks at Isreaand offers his hand to her. "Come, Sweeting. I'm sure we can find you something to eat."

The girl looks between the man and woman and feels as if she doesn't have a choice but to go with them. She slips out of the bed, wrapping the red cloth close to her as she falls between the man and woman as they walk out of the room and into halls worthy of an ice castle without the ice. Their silence is unnerving unlike Wolf's, but Isreadoesn't dare speak to them.

Eventually, they come to a grand dining hall with colorful food and drink similar to food at home. Allowing her hunger to fuel her actions, she picks a few pieces of food and a single goblet of something and consume it all without question. She notices that they didn't eat. They must have already eaten before she awoke. She notices that their skin looks more like hers than the pale color she first saw. She mentally shrugs and walks back toward them, feeling a bit more comfortable being around them.

"Is there anything you'd like to do, Sweeting?" They ask happily.

"I'm sure there's something in the castle gardens that would interest you." The woman says.

"There's always something in the garden worth seeing. Come." The man says.

Isrea just walks with them, still slightly afraid to talk to them. They pass through more halls until a sturdy door appears at the end of a hallway. The man places his hand on the doorknob while the woman places her hands on the girl's shoulders. Smiling, the man opens the door and reveals a world of light plants, nothing like the dark forest. Awed by the flora of this place, Isreagoes to the nearest flower and smells it, taking in its otherworldly scent. She smiles and sees that the couples eyes aren't as icy as before.

"Is this place just wonderful, Sweeting?" The woman asks, giving a graceful twirl to the girl.

The man simply grins. "I'm sure you're enjoying it here, Sweeting." A meow near Isrea'sfeet causes the man to smile even more. "And it seems that the castle pet wants to me you."

Isrea glances down to see a very light blue feline sitting in front of her. The animal meows again and pawsat the girl's bare feet. Isreabends down and carefully pets the cat. Suddenly, she no longer feels concerned about the couple. She looks up and notices that their hair is no longer made of starlight, but simply white. She looks back at the cat and her hand on top of its head. Her skin has lost its human color, but she didn't feel afraid. In fact, she didn't feel anything. She stands up and looks at the couple.

"Are you tired again, Sweeting?" The woman asks, suddenly concerned for the girl.

"She probably is. Let us be off then." The man says before he turns and begins to walk away without waiting for Isrea.

They walk back to the bedroom where Isreawoke up in. The couple surprisesthe girl by giving her a hug and leave with a simple goodbye. Now alone, Isreaspots a mirror and sees a strange girl reflected in it. She walks toward the looking-glass to see that girl with deep purple eyes and white streaked dark hair is her, but she doesn't feel worried. She wraps the cloak around her as she lays down to sleep only to hear a knock at the window. She pads over to the window to find a dark creaturewaiting there.

"Dearing, let me in." He calls.

"Why?" Isrea says. She's finally found a couple who treats her like a someone and not a slave.

"Dearing, the people you met is the evil I spoke of last night. They steal children and bring them to the Place Beyond, to here, so that they may devour them and find the next child."

"But they just turned me into one of them. I have their skin, their eyes, and their hair. They wouldn't harm me." The girl firmly says.

Wolf shakes his head. "You don't have their skin. It's the food you ate. It temporarily changed your skin color. Those eyes of yours are still yours. It's the effect of the pollen of the flower you went near and your hair is the magical effect of petting that damned shifting creature. You must escape this place. Go back to your home before it's too late, Dearing."

"No. They treat me better than my parents do. I'm staying here. Go away." With that, she walks back to the bed and goes to sleep, receiving a dreamless rest.

When she wakes, the couple is standing at the doors again and somehow, they repeat the events of the day before. The only difference is that the couple are changing for the worst. Their eyes have grown dark, their skin brittle looking, and their hair seeming to become untamed and yellow. When she backs into her room, Isrealooks into the mirror to see that her skin has taken a porcelain beauty, her own eyes taking up a bright violet, and her hair becoming fully white. Just like the day before, Wolf appears at the window only this time, in his clawed hands is a white covered figure.

"What is that?" Isrea asks. "This is the latest victim of the couple, Dearing. This will happen to you if you don't let me help you." His eyes shine red with tears.

"What happened?" Isreaasks, feeling sad for the first time since coming here.

Wolf pulls back the cloth to show a fleshy skeleton of a human. Her mouth lies open, forever screaming silently and her eyes gone leaving only the empty sockets. She looks so light that the wind could pluck her out of Wolf's hands and blow her far away. What's left of her hair is white like Isrea's. Shaken, Isreastarts to back away from the window, from the body and the forest creature.

"I don't want that to happen to me." She whispers. "Then invite me in, Dearing. They always attack on the third morning. I can protect you." He says as he gently lays the body down among the flowers in the window box.

"You said you'd protect me when I slept in your own den and where am I now?" His eyes flash in the moonlight, a great sadness clouds over them.

"I did my best, but they had the upper hand. I barely lived after that." He turns to show a deep angry gash in his back still trying to heal.

Irseaquietly gasps, her hands covering her mouth. At that moment, she makes up her mind. "I welcome you in, Wolf."

Without another moment, he leaps through the window and kneels before the girl. "I swear on my life that you'll live after tomorrow morning. Now sleep, Dearing. I _will_ protect you this time."

With a slight nod, she tucks herself into the bed and falls asleep, hoping that both Wolf and her would survive the next morning. Again, she has a dreamless sleep, but quickly awakens when she hears a great bark. She sits up to see the couple at the doors and Wolf at the foot of her bed. He stands on all four paws with his form no longer human-like, but canine. The couple hunch over themselves as if their small weedy bodies are too much to carry. It's hard to tell who or what they were staring at for their eyes are pure shadows matching the darkness of their mouths hanging open revealing two rows of pointed teeth.

"Sweeting!" They hiss. "All we have done is be here for you. You are our center of attention. Why did you betray us like this?"

"You only paid attention to me because you were going to eat me." Isreasnaps, finally speaking to them.

They hiss even louder. "She spoke! Mustn't do that!" Isreaglances at Wolf, who smiles back in a dog-like way.

"I _will_ speak because I have a voice and I have a life of my own. I'm not just here as your meal. I have a real family at home. Parents who love me and a brother who needs me to look after him and a new friend who needs a friend in return!" She smiles when their yellow hair starts falling out of their heads and their hisses turn into bouts of screams. "You may have brought me here to feed on yet another human sacrifice, but you have brought in the wrong human. My power of words will triumph and you will become nothing but dust." The couples skin begins to disintegrate as they pile themselves in a corner. Their banshee screams fill the room, but doesn't unnerve the girl. "What you didn't expect is for me to meet someone in the forest before you could get to me. That was your other mistake this time and it will be your last. Good bye, demon creatures of fraud!" With that, the screams stop and the crumbling bodies still as they perish in the little corner.

Silence overtakes the voice of the girl as the entire castle starts to become transparent and finally become nothing, but a meadow in a forest. In the dead of the morning, nothing but the girl and creatureis awake. Suddenly, Wolf barks happily and picks Isreafrom the log that had once been her bed. He twirls her around as his body turns human-like once more.

"You did it! You did what no one could! The forest is now free of the evil that reigned over it for generations and eons." He places her back on her feet. "But you must return home now. I'm guessing you want to spend time with your family now."

Isrea nods and allows Wolf to lead her back to her door still open after three days. She says goodbye to her friend and enters back into her world.

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**Shortly after writing this, I felt like writing a sequel, but (again) I'm not so sure.  
Depends on some things, I suppose. :)  
R&R**


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